77th Annual Conference Announcement

and Call for Papers

April 12-14, 2018

Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles

Place and time: The 77th annual meeting of the Western States Folklore Society (WSFS) will be held April 12-14, 2018 at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles. A reception and pre-conference registration will take place on April 12, from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm, near the conference hotel. All conference proceedings will be held on the Otis College campus in Los Angeles. For questions, contact: Professor Heather Joseph-Witham at: hwitham@otis.edu

Program: Click on the button in the navigation panel to view a PDF of the preliminary program. A final version will become available soon.

Registration: Online registration will continue through Sunday, April 8. Conference registration at Otis will begin Thursday evening, April 12. Papers will be presented on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14. Nonmembers who join the Society at the time of registration are eligible for membership benefits, including reduced registration fees and a subscription to Western Folklore. Registration fees for regular members are $45; for non-members $70. Registration fees for student/retired members are $25; for non-members $45. Please make checks out to the Western States Folklore Society and address them to:

Otis College
LAS Department
9045 Lincoln Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90045

The Archer Taylor Memorial Lecture: The 2018 lecture will be given by Prof. Daniel Wojcik, Professor of English and Folklore Studies, and affiliate faculty in Religious Studies at the University of Oregon.

Accommodations: Rooms have been reserved at the Custom Hotel, 8639 Lincoln Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045 for April 12-14 at the rate of $119.00 for Queen or Double/Double.  Click on the hotel name link to make a reservation. The hotel is within walking distance of Otis College of Art and Design, where paper presentations will take place. Call the hotel at  (310) 258-5708 to make reservations. When booking, specifiy WSFS group and group code Otis. The hotel will hold rooms at this rate only until March 15, 2018. Other low-price special offers may be available as well; the Otis code should be mentioned at the time of booking for all special rates.

The hotel’s Web site address is www.CustomHotel.com.

Abstracts: The deadline for abstracts (March 15, 2018) has now passed.

Parking: If you are driving, please park in the Otis parking lot on La Tijera, above the 2nd floor.

Registration: While the deadline for submitting abstracts has passed, it is still possible to pay registration fees from this page, using PayPal, through Sunday, April 8.

Fee information:

Registration fees for regular members:	$45
Registration fees for non-members:	$70
Registration fees for student/joint/retired/limited income members:	$25
Registration fees for student/retired nonmembers:	$45
Combined membership and registration fees for individual non-members:	$85 (See note below)
Combined membership and registration fees for student/retired non-members:	$55 (See note below)

To become a member or renew your membership, please pay membership fees first (see the Membership page).

You may now pay your registration fee using PayPal, using your PayPal account, major credit card, or bank account. You do not need to have a PayPal account to do so, as PayPal will handle credit cards and bank accounts.

Select registration category:

Regular member registration 45.00 USD Non-member registration 70.00 USD Student/retired/joint/limited income member registration 25.00 USD Student/retired/limited income nonmember registration 45.00 USD

When paying by check, make it out to Western States Folklore Society (WSFS) and send it to

Western States Folklore Society
17591 River Ranch Rd
Grass Valley, CA 95949-9533

Student Travel Stipends: WSFS awards three student travel stipends of $200 each to students coming to the conference to deliver a paper. To apply, a student must:

1. Indicate they are applying for the stipend
2. Submit their abstracts before the February 24 deadline
3. Submit two abstracts: a 100-150 word abstract for publication in the program and a 350 word abstract in which the paper is described in more detail, with special attention to the conceptual point of the paper.

The second abstract should also be emailed to the Abstract Review Committee at abstracts@westernfolklore.org. The recipients of the student stipends will be announced in early March. Preference will be given to students who come from afar and incur significant travel expenses in coming to the meeting.